'Fake news' and 'Truth Decay' threaten America. How can we revive respect for facts




International Conference on Nuclear Physics




People have been complaining about “fake news” since at least the late 1800s, according to Merriam-Webster. Yet there is something new about our current malaise.

In national political and civil discourse, disagreement over facts appears to be greater than ever. In a recent report for the non-partisan RAND Corporation, we call the problem “Truth Decay” and present evidence that the disputes over facts and reasoned analyses of facts are worse today than in previous eras in our nation’s history.





Are major cities experiencing growing or declining violent crime rates? Has widespread illegal voting occurred or is that a bunch of hooey? Do immigrants contribute their fair share to the economy or do they overburden it? These are just a few examples of the fractures riddling American public life that persist or are worsening despite the availability of reliable data to provide solid answers. Until now, little empirical research has examined the causes of this perplexing shift away from verifiable facts and figures.

Drawing on an extensive review of popular and academic literature, survey data and historical analysis, our study defines four basic elements of Truth Decay in modern times: increasing disagreement about facts and analytical interpretations of facts; a blurring of the line between fact and opinion; the heightened relative volume and influence of opinion and personal experience over fact; and declining faith in formerly respected sources of factual information, including the government and the news media. These trends threaten civil discourse and could lead to political paralysis, disengagement from political and civic institutions, and uncertainty over national policies.

One of the clearest examples of this fiction-over-fact phenomenon is the controversy over the safety of vaccines. Vaccines have always had their skeptics, but the level of skepticism has risen in recent years, with significantly fewer Americans reporting it is “extremely important” to vaccinate their children, public opinion surveys show. This is not a blue state-red state trend, but cuts across the political spectrum.

Ongoing public debates over immigration illustrate another key component of Truth Decay — opinion and personal anecdote often drown out facts. Some of the questions that are central to this debate could be addressed by objective data and rigorous analysis of the data, including the size of the immigrant population in the country illegally, the rate these immigrants commit crimes and the extent to which they displace U.S. citizens in the job market. Yet such facts are repeatedly displaced by news accounts and social media conversations filled with personal experience or observations that interfere with meaningful and productive policy discussions about this topic. Problems remain unsolved and uncertainty reigns




Changes in the information landscape are partly to blame, the result of an information hurricane. The 24-hour news cycle and powerful social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter help inflate the volume and influence of opinions by enabling their massive proliferation and nearly instantaneous spread.

More than 60% of adults obtain their news via social media, according to a study published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives that found the most popular “fake news” stories (those containing verifiably false information) were more widely shared on Facebook during the 2016 presidential election than the most popular mainstream news stories.

Truth Decay has also been exacerbated by competing demands in the U.S. educational system, which does not necessarily have the time and resources to properly teach students to become discerning consumers of information. Mounting political polarization is another cause for great concern because it deepens disagreement about facts and their interpretation, enabling each side to exist in separate echo chambers that reinforce attitudes and beliefs.

Each of these conditions amplifies the effects of another primary cause of Truth Decay: cognitive bias or the human tendency to cling to information, opinion and analyses that confirm pre-existing beliefs, even those that are demonstrably incorrect or misguided. People like to believe they are right.

Without agreement about objective facts and a common understanding of and respect for data and analytical interpretations of those data, it becomes nearly impossible to have the types of meaningful policy debates that form the foundation of democracy.


#TruthDecay#FakeNews#PostTruth#Misinformation#Disinformation#AlternativeFacts
#MediaBias#FactCheck#TrustInFacts#InformationWarfare

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